


Re-Union

by Misttiique



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Post S2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 12:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misttiique/pseuds/Misttiique
Summary: Post S2 feels. What if Shiro didn't up in the astral plane? What if he came back to the only place he knew? The only place he would find Keith.





	Re-Union

Keith stood on the porch of their home. He rocked himself on the balls of his feet, feeling the wood creak under his weight. He'd do this and just stare blankly at the sky before him, stretching endlessly, just like Shiro's absence.

He could remember, actually, more like felt, his leave.

"I'll be back okay, don't worry. It won't be long."  Shiro said and gave Keith a firm salute.

Keith wrapped his arms tighter around himself, trying to keep himself together. But it was a game, how long it would take him to unravel his feelings, for him to completely lose himself in his emotions. No one would believe it if he told anyone because he never seemed like that kind, but he did feel and sometimes, like everyone else, feelings can become overwhelming.

He sighed softly, a breath just like any other, but this one seemed to weary him a little more and even exhaust him too. Everything exhausted him lately, so he resigned himself to just stare at his surroundings. That was five months ago and things remained exactly the same since then. He didn’t know what he was doing anymore – he was lost, just as he was after leaving the Garrison, just after Voltron. He still refused to believe anything anyone said about the mission's failure, about Shiro's supposed disappearance, and Shiro’s implied death. He could still feel his heart beat faster and faster with each push toward the Black Lion right after battling Zarkon. But when the other four lions got closer, the Black Lion had disappeared together with the Galra fleet. Everyone had suspected that Black was taken by the Galra fleet and they had spent a month searching relentlessly for answers, but when news spread that the Galra was still looking for Black, the team realized that Shiro and Black were still out in the dark abyss of space.

Fast forward three months and everyone said Keith needed to move on. "Shiro was the only one who never gave up on me, I’m not giving up on him!" Keith shouted at them. The team had decided maybe it'd be best if everyone took a short rest, after all, the Galra empire was still trying to figure out what to do next with Zarkon in a coma.

So he packed up and came straight here to wait for him. That was what he did too, usually when he'd get upset over something or when he just needed him. And Shiro would come. No doubt, he'd come.

Keith was conflicted but he would never give in and let himself be sucked into these lies. He knew Shiro was still out there and he was prepared to wait, no matter how long it took.

Back at the Garrison, his feelings for Shiro grew as they spent time together and even in Voltron, they still continued to blossom, leaving Keith flustered and blushing. He never dared to admit his feelings for Shiro though, too afraid that it wouldn’t be reciprocated back and leave everything awkward, or worse, they do work out but it would still end in heartbreak. But losing Shiro twice had taken its toll on Keith and he vowed to himself that he would, no matter what, tell Shiro how he felt.

The sky changed suddenly and Keith didn't know if it was just his mind playing tricks on him for leaving it idle again for too long. A shadow covered him and a whoosh of air blew his bangs down into his eyes and he was blinded for a second.

He flipped his bangs away and could only see the sandy dust from around him. He couldn’t see anything else and maybe the scene was perfect because from the dust came a silhouette. At first, the silhouette walked towards him but then it came running towards him. His brain didn’t even have time to register what was going on because his body slammed him forward, faster than the Red lion moved.

His mouth widened and a little welp escaped his lips. His lungs sucked in air, even though it didn’t need any air to live anymore. He slammed into a solid wall of muscle but the solid wall of muscle caught him easily, as if it was second nature, because it was. He could have caused the person to collapse but he was able to support himself with his back leg.

Arms caught Keith tightly and he buried his face into Keith's shoulder. He squeezed Keith and Keith wheezed out his name as he wrapped his arms around his neck. He could feel Keith's tears on his back. He was laughing and somehow Keith was laughing too.

\--------

They walked inside. After all, this had been their home before. At the Garrison, they sneaked out, wanting to get away and go under the stars. They'd ride their hoverbikes and spend the night in this old, forlorn shed before returning just before the sun rose in the desert horizon.

"This place looks just like how I remembered it," Shiro said, stepping inside the house, wood unfamiliar with his weight from his absence.

"Do you mean from the Garrison days or from when you crash landed and dropped by?" Keith asked with a smile.

"From Garrison days. Everything since the crash has…has been a blur," Shiro replied.

"Yeah, it's been…it's been a lot to take in. Everything happened so quickly and then you left again and I… I was worried. What happened?"

"It's a long, long story. But it's strange because first, we were fighting Zarkon. Then, we won but it was all black. Then, the lights on Black went back on and I was all alone. I looked outside and it was exactly where we were but there just wasn’t anyone around."

"That's what happened here too. There was us being split up then darkness. Then you were gone." Keith dropped his gaze and walked toward their couch. The sunlight from the window behind them had faded it but the structure of it was still strong. Keith sat down and patted the seat next to him.

Shiro crossed his arms and sat down next to him. He shouldn’t do this to him -- lead him on when all he could possibly do was hurt him. If he could disappear like that, and twice, he didn’t want to take the chance on Keith's heart.

But sometimes, gravity could be stronger and Shiro was always magnetically pulled toward Keith. "I'm sorry I disappeared like that. Black, she took me to a different reality, the stuff that Slav talks about," Shiro said with a bitter laugh. "And it was black, all black. Nothing but just the dark abyss of space. I don't even know how to describe it but endless."

Keith nodded, taking it in. He was happy that Shiro was back but that also meant all the unresolved feelings bubbling up in his chest again. He had him back but for how long? He didn’t want to take the chance and lose it.

"Yeah, we searched for you for months. Everyone said we should just move on but you were the one person that didn't give up on me so I couldn’t give up on you."

Shiro was shocked but also relieved in Keith's words. Keith knew there was something between them. When had Shiro known? The day he left for the Kerberos Mission, when he hugged Keith and suddenly like an explosion of atoms in his brain, his heart finally connected with it, saying that he was in love.

Love, that was brought Shiro back to this reality, back to Keith.

"That was how I got back, actually. I searched relentlessly for you and the team and none of my systems seemed to be working. I was there but all of you weren't and none of the scannings even showed you were in any part of the universe. I don't even know how much time had passed. I was connected with Black but we both couldn’t figure anything out, besides the fact that we had probably opened a wormhole to another reality. That had to be it," Shiro said and ran a hand through his hair.

Keith allowed himself to take a good look at Shiro. Shiro hadn't changed at all since he had last seen him. He was exactly the same. It was as if no time had passed, even Shiro didn’t have any stubble during that time. And Shiro looked strong, stoic but soft in where his heart was. His kind eyes met Keith's and they both held their breath.

This happened many times before, not just in staring contests but when they sat side-by-side or when from across the room. Sometimes, it'd be a small smirk or even a laugh. It was the kind that maybe was an inside joke. Other times, it'd be a glance away, a blushing face and a shy smile or even a lip bite.

"That was what we had thought too," Keith murmured, breaking the eye contact but looking at his pin-board of theories and notes. He used it at first to try to track what had happened to Shiro after the Kerberos Mission failure then Voltron. His entire brain was practically on it, down to some of the hidden feelings of missing Shiro, scrawled messily onto post-it notes as he'd half-asleep written 'it's killing me when you're away'. He didn’t mean to do it but the day was long from wrecking his brain for an explanation or a sign that there was a possible mistake. After Voltron, it continued in its almost panicked state of where Shiro could be. But the state never turned to grief. If there was anything that was ever left of him when all was said and done, it would have been his hope. Hope stemmed from him. He was Shiro's candle that never went out.

"The rest of the team decided that it was best we all took a short break, since we couldn’t form Voltron anymore. Zarkon was defeated and there hasn’t been any news or sightings of the Galra empire starting to reform and last we heard that the entire empire is in chaos. We didn’t have anything left to do." Keith tapped the edge of the couch with his finger, remembering the events with each tap.

Keith stopped tapping and turned to look at Shiro again. "Then, everyone else agreed to come back together when the universe called for it or when the Galra empire started running, whichever came first."

"I see." Shiro nodded. "Since my sensors weren't working, I couldn’t track time passing. But it sometimes felt like centuries and sometimes hours but everything just seemed to be at a standstill. There wasn’t any point in searching anymore."

"No one wanted to search anymore too. But, not me. It took me a month of finding nothing to come back here." Keith ruffled his messy hair and laughed. "Lance and Hunk are currently exploring some planets in the nearest solar system, Pidge is developing some new tech with the Olkaris to look for her family. Allura and Coran wanted to check on some distant relatives of Altea. And me, I came here. I don’t even know why I came back, right here. Maybe this was the closest thing to home. Or maybe, I just felt that if you'd ever return, you'd come back here."

"You're right, you know." Shiro shifted a little, his heart unsteady in the decision to tell him the reason he came back.

"And why is that? You haven't told me what exactly brought you back." Keith turned, even more toward Shiro, hands crossing his chest.

"Keith, I don’t know if this makes sense and I don’t know if it ever will. But the reason I came back," Shiro breathed. "I came back because of you."

Keith bit his bottom lip, the sharp sensation rooting him in reality. "I don’t get it."

"I mean, the reason I came back was that after searching for so long, I could only think about getting back to Voltron and Black couldn’t do anything about that. But then," Shiro continues, eyes scraping the dust on the floor. "Since I couldn’t go back to Voltron, I asked myself if I could be anywhere at all, where would I go. Then, I thought of you. And Black suddenly shot through this wormhole thing and here I am."

Keith couldn’t fathom it. "But, why me? Me, of all people."

Shiro looked at Keith. He wanted to know the truth, he needed to know the truth because after leaving him like that, he at least owed him that much.

"Because I think I'm in love with you. That's why. Because Black knew that I didn’t just want Voltron, she knew that I wanted you."

"Shiro, you left me twice," Keith said, his voice shook. "Twice, Shiro. I never believed you were dead. Not for a second because you know why? I loved you too much that I didn’t lose hope in your return. Yes, Shiro, I loved you. And I still do."

Shiro put his hand on Keith's and watched as Keith's eyes started to tear up.

"Keith, I love you. But I've left twice and I don't want to leave you again but things happen and I'm not going to put you through that again." A tear trickled down to his chin and fell delicately into his lap.

"But Shiro, in the time you were gone, I realized I don't ever want to lose you ever again. So what if we're Voltron and we're saving the universe, we'd still be together."

"Voltron can save the universe but it changed us. The Galra changed me before that too and I'm not the Shiro from the Garrison anymore. I've changed and you…you don't want what the Galra made, you won't want a champion. There's just, there's just so much happened since then. I'm not me."

"I'm not me too, Shiro. I'm not the Garrison's troublemaker Keith Kogane," Keith said with a bitter laugh. "Voltron has changed us but we stuck through it, we stuck together. I know what you did, Shiro, I know what they turned you into. And I know who I am now. We've never been more different from who we were before. But don't you get it, we're still the same. We change, but we change together. Our relationship has evolved so much, just as we have."

Shiro could only nod, his hand still placed tightly over Keith's. Keith put his other hand on his and swallowed. "I know this is hard and you may leave me again or I may leave you but from the time apart, I want you to know this. I love you, Shiro and I want this no matter how long it will last because who knows how long the universe will last. This may be our only shot left."

"Then, I want it. I want this for us. All the time spent locked away, in the arena, fighting the war of the universe, I wouldn’t have ever thought you'd want me but you do and I want you too, Keith, I really, really do." Shiro said. He cupped Keith's face lightly and stroke his thumb on his cheek, wiping away a tear. Keith leaned into his palm and held it in his.

"So, where do we begin?" Shiro said with a smile.

––––----

Shiro laughed a tiny laugh, he couldn’t even remember the last time he did that. He swayed with Keith side-to-side, their bodies pressed together. Keith rested his head on Shiro's shoulder, he could feel his heartbeat radiate throughout his body steadily. They felt like they were dancing to its melody. Keith sighed softly and closed his eyes, his hand felt the warmth of Shiro's holding his. Shiro's other hand on his lower back, guiding them.

Shiro could be dreaming right now. Almost nothing was wrong, if only they could be like this forever. Shiro's chin rested on top of his head and Shiro looked out at the empty, vast landscape around them. They could settle down here in the middle of nowhere, just the both of them would be enough.

Keith inched his head closer and pressed his forehead against Shiro's neck. He could smell him, a scent so calming, a smell that made him feel home. Maybe this was his home, just right here. They continued swaying under the moonlight, in the picturesque scene only found in movies.

Keith pulled away slowly, bringing his eyes to meet Shiro's. They were sparkling, like the universe had found its way into them. "I love you," he whispered. "I've never felt like this before but I think this is what being in love feels like. Even after everything we've done, this is it. This is real and I….I love you."

"I love you, Keith. I've always had. You've sacrificed everything for me, you've always kept me safe and you've always understood me, no matter how complicated things get. I'm never been surer in my entire life, I want this for us. I just want to love you, as much as I can because I've fallen so deep over my head, you're my only way forward. I've fallen ever since I've met you." Shiro whispered back.

It seemed like eons had passed with them, just standing there, watching the stars in each other's eyes. Nothing could make them both more content. All the time spent training, searching, fighting wars, fighting inner demons – nothing, nothing could compare to this.  

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me at Misttiique on [Tumblr](https://misttiique.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/misttiique).


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